The View From the Top - Camden Hills State Park

I've been a bit busy being sick, a mixture of a cold virus and severe fall allergies has had me struggling to get through the days for over a week.  I can't believe it myself, but today marks 11 days since I've even gone for a walk! Wherever you are if fall allergies are a problem for you I wish you rain and a good hard frost.

Mt. Battie Tower, erected 1921

I'm guessing it's gorgeous back in Camden right about now, with cool days and nights and fall festivals and foliage bringing out the leaf peepers.  At Camden Hills State Park we drove up to the top of Mt. Battie and took in the views of Camden Harbor and Penobscot Bay, which were impressive even on a cloudy day.

Penobscot Bay, one of those many islands is Islesboro

The view has been inspiring people for many years, including Edna St. Vincent Millay who was born in nearby Rockland and wrote the poem "Renascence" in 1912 while sitting on top of Mt. Battie when she was just 20 years old.

Camden Harbor

From "Renascence":

All I could see from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood;
I turned and looked another way,
And saw three islands in a bay.
So with my eyes I traced the line 
Of the horizon, thin and fine,
Straight around till I was come
Back to where I’d started from; 
And all I saw from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood.

The poem is quite long, and goes on to examine life, death, and God.  Not a bad read, but I'd have preferred it to carry on the way it started, as nature alone is enough to fill me with awe.

lichens and ferns at Adam's Lookout

I struck out one morning to head up Megunticook Trail to Adam's Lookout, and the climb was steep and the view of the Bay not as inspiring as the one from Mt. Battie.  Still, it was a good hike and I wish we had been around longer to explore the trail system.  There are 30 miles of trails within the park, not all of them straight up!

Megunticook Trail

Next time I'd like to try the Cameron Mountain Trail which goes past old farm land and blueberry fields.  I miss picking handfuls of blueberries while hiking.  But I bet the spring wildflowers would be fun to see there too.

There are no rain or freezing overnight temperatures in sight for the next 10 days here, but there is a frost warning for Merrill tomorrow so maybe I'll scoot up to Council Grounds or a bit farther south with my tent on Friday night, the fall color has started up there and I'm eager to see those splashes of yellow and orange.

The bath remodel is finally done, I've been busy doing clean-up on the house following the dusty work.  Before and after pictures on their way!